


Shut Up and Dance with Me

by SuspiciousPenguin



Series: The Bird Nerds and the Bee's Knees [2]
Category: Avengers (Comics), Hawkeye (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom, Young Avengers
Genre: Age Difference, Clint Barton is Midwest Trash, Drunk Sex, F/M, References to Sex, Underage Drinking, hawkeye squared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 00:10:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4457837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuspiciousPenguin/pseuds/SuspiciousPenguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hawkeyes are looking for some more information on the body double situation following Hawkeye 22, but between drinks and an old, familiar face, they find themselves getting distracted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shut Up and Dance with Me

Kate Bishop loves Clint Barton. There’s no denying that. She would kick the ass of anyone who dared try to hurt him, no questions asked.

Of course, that doesn’t mean she thinks he’s without faults. He’s a slob. A screw-up. He can almost never take anything seriously, and some of the bad decisions that he makes cause Kate to wonder why she even bothers sticking with him.

This is one of those decisions.

“Okay, you did not just dip a cheese slice in ranch dressing.”

Alright, so it wasn’t the most heinous of his bad decisions. It _was_ one of the more embarrassing ones, though.

“Kate,” Clint deadpanned as he licked a little bit of the dressing off of his fingers, “you don’t want to be embarrassed, maybe stop making me come with to these fancy parties. Especially ones with Midwest catering.” He picked another cheese slice off of his plate and swiped it through the puddle of dressing. “Besides, when’s the next time I’m going to find real Wisconsin cheese? I mean, it’s no Culver’s, but…”

Kate pretended to vomit as he popped the bite into his mouth. “You are disgusting. An embarrassment to the Hawkeye name. And fix your collar. You look like a doof.”

Clint rolled his eyes, but yanked at his collar anyway. “I feel like a conductor,” he complained.

“Maybe if you shaved and started eating like a civilized human being.” Kate shrugged and elegantly placed a small bite of salad in her mouth.

Clint shifted his weight uncomfortably. “What are we even doing here, Katie? I thought you didn’t _want_ to see your dad again.”

Kate sighed and dabbed at first her own lips and then Clint’s with her napkin. “You _know_ why we’re here. It was _your_ team’s idea to sneak into this party and get some more intel on the whole ‘body double’ thing. I just happened to have an in. And I kind of uncovered the whole thing, so, you know, you’re welcome.”

“Kate.” Clint set his plate down on a nearby table and took his partner’s shoulders in his hands, looking her dead in the eye. “Why are we really here?”

Kate fidgeted with her purse and avoided eye contact. Clint had to give her credit, though, to anyone outside of the two of them, it would look like she was just looking for a mint or something. The girl was good. “Kate…”

“Appearances.” The Young Avenger admitted softly. Clint almost couldn’t read it on her lips. She looked younger than usual, more vulnerable. “I don’t have to _like_ my dad, but I can’t just not show up at a party thrown in his honor. He’d be laughed out of all of his circles.”

Clint stared at his young friend. “You’re serious.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Look, I don’t expect you to understand.” Kate turned away to snag two glasses of wine off of the tray of a passing waiter, making sure to keep her face pointed toward Clint. “It’s politics. He might be a despicable human being, but I’m not going to destroy his social life over this.” She handed one of the glasses to her mentor. “Here, drink this. Try to fit in better.”

“Drama queen,” Clint muttered under his breath as he accepted the alcohol.

“What did you just call me?” Kate snapped. “I’ll have you know that-“

But luckily, Clint was saved from any kind of argument by a voice coming from off to the side of the pair. “Is that Katherine Bishop?”

Kate’s facial expression went from pissed off to polite and graceful in .2 seconds flat as she whipped around to greet the newcomer. “Well, look who it is!” She exclaimed, kissing the man gently on one cheek. She turned back to face Clint. “Clint, this is Daniel duBois. We went to high school together. Daniel, this is Clint.”

“Pleasure.” Daniel offered his hand to Clint, who shook it firmly. “How do you two know each other?”

“We-“ Clint began, but Kate cut him off with a swift, almost imperceptible elbow to his side.

“He is my… Boyfriend.” She moved closer to the older Hawkeye and smiled, all sugar-sweet eyes and pearly teeth.

Clint choked on his wine. “Boyfriend?”

She adjusted her body to cover up a signed ‘please, I’ll explain later’ before going up on her toes and kissing his cheek.

“I mean…” Clint spoke before Daniel could ask any questions. He cleared his throat and raised his wine to his lips, draining the glass while he thought of an excuse for the outburst. “I mean, it’s only been a couple of dates… Katherine.” He took her hand and rubbed small circles on it with his thumb. “I didn’t know you were ready to use the… Labels.”

“Wow,” Daniel nodded. He reached over to a passing waiter and grabbed three more glasses of wine for them. “Big moment for you, isn’t it, Katherine?”

“Yes, it’s, um…” Kate sipped at her wine. “It’s a really big weekend for us, right, sweetheart?”

“Absolutely.” Clint agreed as he downed half of his own glass in one gulp. “With this party and the… Gala. And everything.”

“Oh, is there a gala this weekend?” Daniel asked. His eyes seemed hungry, but for what, Clint was unsure.

Kate laughed and touched Clint’s arm. “Of course! We are flying back to… Iowa for it.”

“Oh, really?” Daniel raised an eyebrow at Kate. “And what, exactly, is in Iowa?”

“I’m from Iowa.” Clint gestured with his wine glass.

“Right!” Kate smiled around another large sip of wine. “His sister is having her… Engagement gala.”

“And I couldn’t be prouder of my little sister…” Clint looked to Kate for help. This proved to be a bad idea, as she offered the name “Grace” at the same time that he suggested “Elizabeth”. “That’s right! My favorite sister, Grace Elizabeth.” He finished his own wine and began drinking Kate’s. She took the entire bottle of wine off of a waiter’s tray to refill his glass, which she now took over as her own.

Daniel nodded again. “Well then. Send my regards to the happy couple.”

“Of course!” Kate laughed. It was very clear to Clint that the laughter was fake, but Daniel seemed to take it as politeness. She had already drunk most of the wine in her refilled glass. How did that happen? “Well, it was great seeing you again, Daniel. You take care now!”

“What’s the hurry?” Daniel poured Kate some more wine. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”

Kate downed the glass and poured some more, doing everything she could to avoid Daniel’s eyes. “Well, you know, we were just about to go dancing, so I didn’t want to…”

“Katie,” Clint nudged her side. “I wanted to eat some more corn.”

She whipped around to make eye contact, a pointed fierceness hidden behind her smile. “Clinton, dearest,” if she could shoot lasers from her eyes, Clint would be a pile of ash right now. “You live a half mile away from that cute little market. We will buy you corn when we go home.”

Clint groaned. “Kate, it’s been fifteen years since I’ve had good corn. There’s no good corn on the East coast. Just let me grab an ear.”

Kate took Clint’s wrist roughly. “Fine, then.” She practically growled. “We will go back to the buffet table and get you some corn. Daniel, it’s been lovely. Have a wonderful evening.” She took the bottle of wine with the hand that wasn’t gripping Clint’s, practically cutting off his circulation (damn, that girl is strong). She yanked Clint away before Daniel could say anything.

“Hey, careful, girly-girl.” Clint shook his hand free as they approached the buffet line. He gave Kate his wine glass (which she promptly refilled and gulped down like water) in order to fill his plate. “So… You gonna tell me what that was all about?”

Kate worried her lip with her teeth. “It’s a long story. A few years ago, he was on a fake Young Avengers team, and we basically had to trick him into thinking I wasn’t Hawkeye.” She poured some more wine. “Long story short.”

“Easy on the wine,” Clint warned. “So you decided that ‘boyfriend’ would be a good excuse. He doesn’t think I’m, um, too old for you?”

“Well…” Kate sipped away, ignoring Clint’s suggestion. “I mean, it’s not like it’s _that_ strange. Lots of rich men marry younger than them. And it’s not like you’re not incredibly attractive, so I’m sure he’s buying it.”

Clint sputtered and fiddled with his hearing aid, absolutely _positive_ that he had heard wrong. “I… Katie, _what_?”

“Oh, come on,” Kate finished her current glass and ran her hand across Clint’s lower back. “It’s not like you don’t know it.”

Clint took a bite out of his small ear of corn. He was stalling.

“Come on, Hawkeye, don’t be nervous.” She breathed, pressing herself closer to him.

“Kate, I am officially cutting you off.” Clint took the bottle away from her, placing it on a nearby table. “You’ve had way too much to drink. Here, have something to eat.”

Kate grabbed Clint’s wrist and guided the ear of corn that he was holding closer to her mouth. She slowly took a bite, ‘accidentally’ letting her lower lip trail across his thumb. “Mmm, I see what you were- Hey! This is just corn!” She pouted.

“ _Just_ _corn_?” Clint looked at her like she had just kicked Lucky. Okay, maybe he had had a little much to drink, too. Just a little. “Katie, this is sweetcorn! When have you ever had corn this sweet and juicy?”

Kate couldn’t hold back her giggle. It bubbled out of her like the chocolate fountain on the table she was leaning against. “You like sweet and juicy things, huh, Clint?” She chuckled, slapping a hand over her mouth.

“Girly-girl, you’d better not have said what I think you just did.” Clint tried to keep the incredulous smile off his face.

Kate shook her head, eyes shining gleefully. “It’s just CORN!” She exclaimed, stealing another bite.

“I can’t even talk to you,” Clint chuckled. “Come on, let’s find some water.”

Kate grabbed two glasses off the buffet table. “This is probably water,” She declared, throwing one back herself as she handed the other to Clint.

Clint sniffed at the glass suspiciously. It was definitely _not_ water. “Katie, come on, this isn’t what you need right now. Let’s see if the bar has anything.”

He dragged his drunkenly giggling partner over to the bar, keeping a firm hand around her wrist. The bar seemed to be the happening spot, as there was a large crowd gathered around it. They were all chattering away at a low buzz, enough so that Clint couldn’t quite make out any individual voices. _Great._

Clint, with Kate in tow, shoved his way through the crowd to get the bartender’s attention. After what felt like forever (what was with these rich people and their ridiculous waiting times?), the man behind the counter deigned to notice him. “Hey, do you have some water or juice or something?”

The bartender began replying, possibly listing off what kinds of juice there were, but between the noise and the fact that he was moving his face around so much, Clint couldn’t be sure. He tried asking the bartender to repeat himself a few times, to no avail. Finally, Clint just pulled Kate out in front of him and had her take care of the ordering.

After a moment, Kate turned back around with a big thumbs-up while the bartender began working on the drinks. ‘How much does it cost?’ Clint signed to Kate.

‘Nothing.’ She responded, pausing as she tried to figure out how to sign the next part. ‘Open bar,’ she fingerspelled sloppily, ‘Tip only.’

Clint nodded. This was a lot fancier than he thought. Their drinks, two fancy-looking red things, came up really quickly, and the pair began sipping while Clint pulled out his wallet to tip the bartender.

Clint raised his eyebrows at Kate, indicating the drink, to which she responded by mouthing ‘fruit punch’. He took a sip to test it, and, although he had never been one for overly sugary drinks, this was exactly what he needed right now. He finished it in a few gulps and asked for another.

After a few rounds of the fruit punch (during which he taught the bartender the signs for ‘more, please’), Clint was feeling pretty great. His head was spinning a little. There was no way that punch was non-alcoholic. Damn Kate.

He peered over at her. She still looked pretty drunk. Make that just plain _pretty_. When did she get this attractive? She noticed his staring and turned to give him a small wave and a giggle. “ _Christ_ ,” Clint breathed.

“What was that, Hawkeye?” Kate hiccupped, getting way closer to Clint than was necessary.

He knew he should say something, but he found he didn’t really mind how close she was. “Just lookin’ at you, Hawkeye,” he admitted.

Kate laughed and placed a hand flat against Clint’s chest. “Like what you see?”

Clint knew he shouldn’t be playing along with this. He knew it was a bad idea.

“You know I do.”

 _Dammit_.

Kate pulled back a little bit and stared at him. She seemed to be scrutinizing him, looking for any hint of teasing in his eye. A smile quickly broke out over her face. “Hey Clint?” She bit her lip.

“What’s up, girlie?” He twisted a finger in her hair.

“Will you dance with me now?”

Now the older Hawkeye had a smile to match hers. “It would be my pleasure, Hawkeye.”

Kate giggled again and pulled Clint out onto the floor. The band was playing a smooth, jazzy number, and it took no time at all for the two superheroes to get into a rhythm. They laughed and spun, having the time of their lives, until the song changed and the beat slowed.

“What’s wrong; did the music stop?” Clint stopped dead in the middle of the floor.

“No, dummy,” Kate giggled. “It’s a slow song.”

“Oh,” Clint shrugged. Then he got it. “ _Oh._ ”

“Yeah…” Kate tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“So, I guess we’d better…” Clint held his arms out to hold her.

Kate’s face broke out into another huge smile. “I guess so.” She pulled herself in close and adjusted Clint’s arms so that she was completely enveloped in his embrace, breathing in his smell.

Clint found his hands wandering across Kate’s body, relishing in the smooth, soft feeling of her bare back under his rough, calloused fingers. She reacted by using one hand to caress his lower back while the other rubbed his shoulder and upper arm. Clint leaned in a little and took a deep breath. She was wearing her lilac perfume again.

Clint shook his head. ‘Come on, Barton,’ he thought. ‘Don’t be creepy.’ His gaze swept across the room, taking in the people. He locked eyes with Daniel, who shot him a death glare. “Hey, uh, Katie?”

“Shhhhh,” Kate took her hand off of his shoulder to lay a finger on his lips. “We’re dancing.”

Clint obeyed, tearing his gaze away from the young, rich man in the corner and instead lowering his head to rest on top of Kate’s.

The pair remained in their intimate embrace, swaying gently to the music and lost in their own little world, until the beat and the lights swept them away and they were suddenly both very aware of the fact that they were actively kissing in the middle of the dance floor.

Clint broke the kiss and stared at Kate in shock. “I…” He breathed.

Her smell was all around him. Her eyes were his entire world right now, and all he could feel was her hands pushing against his lower back, her torso pressed up against his. “Katie, I’m…”

For the second time of the night, she silenced him with a finger to the lip. “Trust your gut, Hawkeye,” she whispered.

This was a bad idea.

This was a _really_ bad idea.

He shouldn’t have even entertained the thought.

And yet somehow, Clint found himself kissing his young partner again and again. He didn’t remember leaving the party or hailing a cab or getting back to his apartment. All that registered was the goosebumps that peppered Kate’s arms as he slipped that silky, backless dress off of her creamy shoulders and her perfectly manicured nails digging into his back while they made their way to his bed, his hands running through her silky smooth hair. They kept the party going all night until they couldn’t keep their eyes open anymore and both passed out, tangled in each other’s arms.

Clint woke up a few hours later, a minor headache ringing in his skull, and found himself unable to look away from Kate’s pale form laying before him. Sunlight leaked through the blinds, leaving streaks of illumination across her bare back and shoulders.

Clint couldn’t bring himself to look away. It was only when she, too, began stirring and asking if they had any coffee that he was shaken from his reverie.

There were three thoughts that filled Clint Barton’s mind at that moment.

First of all, Cap was going to _kill_ him for not getting any intel last night. And if he didn’t get the job done, Natasha would be sure to finish it off.

Secondly, he had had sex with Kate Bishop. The same Kate Bishop who was _way_ too young for him. The same Kate Bishop who never listened, who had no respect for the older, more experienced heroes, who made him want to scream in frustration most nights. That very same Kate Bishop was now laying in his bed, naked and kissing him good morning.

The third thought is the one that Clint found the most terrifying and disconcerting.

Despite the fact that he was no longer drunk or caught up in the moment, and although he knew that he was old enough to realize just how bad of an idea it was…

He _really_ wanted to do it again.

“Good morning, Hawkeye.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone :) Thanks for reading!
> 
> This story started out as an excuse to have Clint indulge in some Midwestern food, but it kind of took some turns along the road.
> 
> Canon mostly drawn from Fraction's Hawkeye series. This takes place following issue 22, but before All-New Hawkeye. Daniel/The Executioner comes from the Dark Reign series of Young Avengers, and I'm gonna be honest, I haven't read that particular run in awhile. I hope I kept him roughly in character.
> 
> Anyway, story notes. Literally everything that Clint says about the food is inspired something that either my brother or I said about Midwestern food when we left Illinois, and the dance floor scene was written with the song Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon in mind.
> 
> I want to give a shout-out to everyone who has sent me kind words and good reviews. You guys are seriously the main reason I actually write anything. I'd especially like to send a shout-out to someone who commented on my first 5:1 fic. She used the name Anna with her comment, and it seriously made my entire day. Anna, if you're reading this, this fic is for you!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Criticism and reviews are always welcome. Have a great day!


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